A Bluestem Prairie

MN-01 Saturday: Change in the weather for Bush--and Gutknecht?'

Weather folks are talking about a change as we settle into the fall campaign season. The political climate seems to be changing as well in the Fighting First.

MANKATO FREE PRESS
The Mankato Free Press editorial board gives a thumbs down to a $20 million PR campaign for Iraq happy news:

Thumbs down

To the U.S. Senate for approving a $20 million expense in the Department of Defense budget for a public relations contract to generate positive news out of the war in Iraq.

Senators had proposed an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that would prohibit spending the money for the public relations contract that had already been awarded.

While it’s important the American public be informed about Iraq, and there may be a need to highlight some positive things that are happening, $20 million seems like an awful lot of money to spend on spin.

Such public relations also would most likely not portray an objective picture of the war in Iraq to the American people since those who would be getting the $20 million might have a tendency to provide the buyer (the Bush administration) what it wants.

An amendment offered by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., called for a prohibition on the spending. The Senate voted 51-44 to table (kill) the amendment.

The Senate also voted, 54-44, against requiring the administration to report every three months to Congress on whether Iraq was in a civil war and detail the U.S. plan to protect soldiers from the crossfire.

Sen. Norm Coleman voted to spend the money and Sen. Mark Dayton opposed the spending.

Coleman voted against the requirement for the administration to report to Congress on civil strife and Dayton voted in favor of it.

Reader Carl Meyers of Eagle Lake believes "We need facts about 9/11, not movie that distorts them":

How sad it is that any major network would chose to outright lie about what happened on 9/11. These falsehoods are in a movie designed to distort the facts and created by a group of right wing supporters. [read more]

FILLMORE COUNTY JOURNAL LTE
A doctor in Preston sets the record straight about a comparison of Lincoln and Truman with Dubya:

When I first read Dr. Olson's letter (Aug. 28, Fillmore County Journal) comparing G.W. Bush to Lincoln and Truman I thought it was a parody of Rumsfelds' flight from reality before the veterans. Then it came to me that he was serious. [read more]

WINONA DAILY NEWS LTE
Readers in Winona don't seem any happier with the Bush administration, which it's curious that Gutknecht is bringing Bush liegemen like Hoekstra and Gingrich into the state for fundraising and incumbency campaigning.

Though correspondent Michael Bowler penned his epistle in support of a local DFL state senate candidate, he begins his letter "Going right over the cliff" with a pointed contrast between the Bush and Clinton policies in nation building [emphasis ours]:

In an era of monumental right-wing failures including Iraq, a huge federal deficit, collapsing health care and spiraling local taxes, Stan Gudmundson (Sept. 13) needs to learn that the old lefty scare goes nowhere. Indeed for most Minnesotans, lefty has come to have a pleasant association as we think of our most celebrated Minnesota Twin, Johan Santana, making us all proud in spite of anti-immigrant, right-wing rhetoric. Gudmundson only adds expensive gasoline to his fire by bringing up President Clinton’s Kosovo policy — that in fact halted hideous and rapidly spreading ethnic cleansing without our soldiers losing their lives —because it invites comparison with President Bush’s Iraq policy that has bred civil war, terrorism, global instability and massive casualties, American and Iraqi, but uncovered no weapons of mass destruction.

As the Rochester Post-Bulletin's editorial noted yesterday:

. . . So, yes, Hoekstra was here for Gutknecht, but he was also here for President Bush.

The issue

The future of Gutknecht and Bush are somewhat connected because the issues in Gutknecht's 1st District contest against Democrat Tim Walz are part of the midterm election battle some are trying to make into a referendum on the terrorism agenda of President Bush.

OLLIE OX UPDATE: Digby looks at the parallels between the ramp-up to the Iraq War and the current Iran alarm sounding in First As Tragedy, Then As Farce Worse Tragedy.

D M & E NEWS
The PB's Government Center blog has more DM & E news: the Mayo Clinic's letter to the WSJ in response to a column supporting the loan and a press release from the railroad showing how past upgrades have led to improved rail safety.  The Rochester Coalition responds with its own press release noting that New Rail Isn't Panacea for DM&E Derailments. 

Vox Verax raises an unpublished letter from its comments:  "Is the USDA relying on faulty data to support DM&E?"  The Marshall Independent reports on the crusade of the director of economic development in Tracy, MN, for DM & E loan approval.

NETROOTS
Oldie but goodie: we can't get enough of these Bush-Gutknecht bumperstickers.  OLLIE UPDATE: Look, Binky, here's another one. Jeepers.

The U-DFL blog reports Facebook At It Again:

Facebook is at it again. They've added a new feature called "Election Pulse" which tracks how many facebookers are supporting each candidate in each state. A brief summary of a few results from Minnesota:

For Senate, Amy Klobuchar over Rep. Mark Kennedy, 63%/34%
In the 1st Congressional District, Tim Walz over Rep. Gil Gutknecht, 69%/31%

We've got Facebook access, and we took a look. Some pretty impressive students supporting Walz, and the percentage of Walz supporters originally from or attending college in MN-01 is quite high.  This looks to be genuine grassroots for Tim Walz.

OLLIE OX UPDATE: The Vast Leftwing Conspiracy notes how Al Franken put in a pitch for two Minnesota candidates during a live appearance at a showing of "God Spoke":

Franken made a big pitch for people to support two Minnesota Democrats running for Congress, Patty Wetterling and Tim Walz. He asks that you contribute what you can, even if it's just $15 dollars, because these are great candidates for winnable seats.

MN-01 Sunday in Rochester: Gingrich and Murtha

The Rochester Post-Bulletin carried a news brief about a fundraiser tomorrow:

Former GOP Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich will appear Sunday at a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht.

The event starts at 6 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Rochester, 150 S.Broadway, with a dinner and a photo opportunity with Gutknecht and Gingrich costing $1,000 per person.

Speeches are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.; the cost is $50 per person.

Gingrich and Gutknecht go way back, ace-boonies from 1994, when Gutknecht was first elected in the  GOP wave that took control of Congress that year. Gingrich is now nurturing Presidential ambitions after leaving Congress in disgrace; Gutknecht is trying to hold on to his seat.

There's much more online about Gingrich. It's important to note that while the two agree on many issues, Gingrich and Gutknecht do have some major differences.

For instance: Wikipedia. Gutknecht earned bad press when staff tried to remove his Contract-For-American related term limit pledge, then scorned the online source as unreliable. Gingrich differs:

During a 2006 CSPAN interview with Alvin Toffler, Gingrich referred to Wikipedia as a model of how people spontaneously organize information en masse and praised it for its accuracy and its being a "people's encyclopedia." Gingrich referred to it as being a model of future organization.

On a more serious note, Gingrich has also been an outspoken critic of Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha, who will be in Rochester on Sunday as well, at a Veterans for Walz fundraiser at 4 p.m. Detailed information here.

Nor was Gingrich alone in attacking Murtha, as Taylor Marsh demonstrates at the Patriots Project in "The Swiftboating of John Murtha."  More here at SourceWatch. Murtha's crime? Calling for redeployment of American troops in Iraq.

Yet Gingrich's own position on Iraq has also evolved.  See Even Gingrich wants to cut and run in the Carpetbagger Report from April, which references this ThinkProgress article "September 2004: Gingrich Blasts Critics of Iraq War Who ‘Complain We’re Not Winning Fast Enough’"   Digby analyzed Newt's war planning in "Future Shock and Awe" back in 2003.

Perhaps Gutknecht had Gingrich in mind in when he warned that it wasn't time to go wobbly on Iraq in June; maybe Gingrich's wobbling was on his mind later in the summer when Gil changed his own position on the Iraqi war.

But now Iran is the new Iraqi, as one U.S. counterterrorism official recently told the press. And  by bringing in Hoekstra and Gingrich, Gutknecht does appear to be allying himself with American neo-cons beating the war drums against Iran.

MN-01 Opinion: Rochester Post Bulletin Editorial

We mentioned Pete Hoekstra in our morning's post; his committee's report on Iran is being criticized as dishonest.

Today's Rochester Post-Bulletin editorial recalls Hoekstra's visit as well:

Last week's guest appearance in Rochester by Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., indicated that Gil Gutknecht has important friends in Congress who will go to bat for him in a tough election. So, yes, Hoekstra was here for Gutknecht, but he was also here for President Bush.

The issue

The future of Gutknecht and Bush are somewhat connected because the issues in Gutknecht's 1st District contest against Democrat Tim Walz are part of the midterm election battle some are trying to make into a referendum on the terrorism agenda of President Bush.

The editorial reviews Bush's anti-terrorism agenda that includes coercive interrogation, allowing hearsay in trials,  denying the right of terrorism suspects to review evidence against them under certain circumstances, and spying on U.S. citizens without cuort approval.

Hoekstra said he will support the president on these issues. Gutknecht said he would follow Hoekstra's lead.

[snip]

Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee, saw the president's proposals as clear dividers between parties and opposing candidates. Walz said he opposes Bush policies and believes they have weakened the country's security.

[snip]

Our view

The debate over national security proposals has spilled over into district congressional races. Even though Gutknecht indicated his positions are open for change, voters appear to have a clear choice between Gutknecht and Walz.

MN-01 colors of fall: truth-telling time?

NEWSPAPERS
One pleasure of door knocking and lit dropping is getting out in lovely fall weather.  According to the Strib's fall leaf forecast, MN-01 will be the "it" district for political activists:

But in places that received more rainfall, such as southern Minnesota or low valleys with more moisture, the oranges, reds, yellows and maroons should meet expectations.

"There will be the whole range this year -- subtle, subdued colors all the way to the vibrant colors," Albers said. "The northern third of the state is going to be a little subdued, with dabs and dollops. Southern Minnesota is going to be very good for color, along the Minnesota River valley and around Rochester."

Ron Tezzi, a letter writer in the Mankato Free Press notes that "Liberals need not apologize for keeping people informed":

For more than a year now, a steady stream of letters and My View columns in The Free Press has offered facts and arguments detailing the blunders and inadequacies of the Bush administration and Republicans.

You can’t help but notice the intellectual impotence of opponents unable to counter these facts and arguments. If they write anything, they just whine about liberal extremists.

Liberals need not apologize to anyone for keeping people informed about what their government is doing: Ignorance may be bliss; but it is not a virtue.

The problem with ignoring facts is that they can come back to bite your backside — evident (to anyone reasonably well-informed) in the President’s rhetorical attempts to cover his badly-bitten butt after the Iraq fiasco, Katrina, loss of international prestige for the United States, rejection of Bush prisoner policies by federal courts, huge deficits, tax cuts for the rich, denial of global warming, hindering stem cell research, and trying to panic people about Social Security. Equally bitten are his Republican cohorts, like Gil Gutknecht and Mark Kennedy.  [read more]

Cottonwood County saw a primary turnout of 20%, higher than its historical averages. One resident, Rosemary Schaffer of Windom, tells readers of the Cottonwood County Citizen Online that "It's time for the truth":

Are you a Patriot?

Do you love your country? Then it is your job (mine, too) to tell our leaders 'Give us the truth!' - not just the leaders of one political party, but all of them.

It is also time the news media tells the truth. If they do not know what the truth is, say that and report something they do know is true.

Blind faith in leaders isn't patriotism, whichever leaders happen to be in power at the time. And, if you say it's unpatriotic for someone to speak out about what they perceive is not true, that's just plain immature and loathsome name calling.

Sept 11 has come, been agonized over, and is behind us one more time.

We have heard over and over in the last few weeks, 9/11 - 9/11 - 9/11. That evidently is supposed to strike such mind-numbing fear into all Americans, that we allow our leaders to do anything they please to anyone - including our American citizens. They do it in the name of being frightened into stupidity and cowering in abject fear every day and night.

Oh how handy it is, in the run-up to the most important mid-term elections any of us will probably ever participate in, that Osama Bin Ladin has plopped yet another video out. Now we can be frightened one more time.

It's time for the truth, isn't it?

Last weekend, Michigan Republican Pete Hoekstra came to Minnesota to host a fundraiser for Gil Gutknecht and to visit with Rochester's first responders. Today, Hoekstra is the focus of an AP article published online at the Winona Daily News: "IAEA: U.S. Report on Iran 'Dishonest'":

A recent House of Representatives committee report on Iran's nuclear capability is "outrageous and dishonest" in trying to make a case that Tehran's program is geared toward making weapons, a senior official of the U.N. nuclear watchdog has said.

The letter, obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday outside a 35-nation board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says the report is false in saying Iran is making weapons-grade uranium at an experimental enrichment site, when it has in fact produced material only in small quantities that is far below the level that can be used in nuclear arms.

[snip]

Dated Aug. 12, the letter was addressed to Rep. Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. It was signed by Vilmos Cserveny, a senior director of the Vienna-based agency.

[snip]

The dispute was reminiscent of the clashes between the IAEA and Washington over whether Saddam Hussein was trying to make weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear arms. American arguments that Saddam had such covert arms programs were given as the chief reason for invading Iraq and toppling Saddam.

More on the letter in the Washington Post.

NETROOTS
Minnesota Central asks whether Rochester is rejecting Gutknecht.

Tim Walz has received $10,627.36 from 436 contributors as an ActBlue Netroots Candidate.  Put some coin in that hat to help him tell the truth.

MN-01 Veterans for Walz: Murtha Rally for Walz in Rochester

This just in from the Walz Campaign:

Congressman John Murtha and Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede will join Tim Walz on Sunday, September 17, 2006, 4 p.m. in Rochester, Minnesota for a rally. The rally, which will kick off  the newly formed Veterans for Walz organization, will be held at the home of Home of Sarah and John Pacchetti, 930 8th Ave. SW, Rochester.

The event is open to the press and to the public.

According to the campaign,

Veterans for Walz was founded to support Tim Walz in his bid for US Congress. The veterans will have boots on the ground at events, will door knock key precincts, and telephone fellow veterans to discuss Tim's candidacy.  Co-chairs of Veterans for Walz are Bob Montague, Tim Eggenberger and John Borman. If you would like to receive Veterans for Walz e-mails in the future, please respond to Tim Eggenberger at eggenbergertimothy@hotmail.com.

MN-01 Mid-September Netroots

NETROOTS
Over at Minnesota Campaign Report, Joe Bodell offers a second opinion about Tom Reynolds' TOMPAC $10,000 contribution to Gil Gutknecht's campaign, relating it to the tobacco industry. 

We take a different view, thinking that a contribution of this size relates to the competitiveness of the Walz-Gutknecht contest. Let's take a look at what Minnesota House Republicans have received from TOMPAC in the past. 

In the hard-fought Wetterling-Kennedy 2004 race in MN-06, TOMPAC contributed $10,000 to Mark Kennedy in two $5000 installments. This year, Michele Bachmann also received $10,000 in two installments.   John Kline received $5000 in 2002, 2004, and 2005. Rod Grams received $5000 for this year's challenge to Oberstar. Jim Ramstad received none in any year.

Gutknecht never received a contribution from TOMPAC before 2006, according to  FEC records.

Smartie at Power Liberal compares Gutknecht's polling budget with that of John Kline and Jim Ramstad.

With the right seeking to distribute bumperstickers linking Amy Klobuchar and Mike Hatch with Keith Ellison, our waggish Twin Cities blogger buddies have come up with this suggestion and this one for Gil Gutknecht bumpstickers.

On a more serious note, Vox Verax provides an excellent roundup on the DM & E railroad loan. The deadline for commentary on the loan is October 10. Go to Vox Verax for contact information.

Craig's Site notes another reason to support Tim Walz.

OLLIE OX UPDATE
The U-DFL bloggers claim to have seen a MN-01 poll (spelling corrected):

. . .Tim Walz scaring the crap out of Gil Gutknecht in MN-1 (48%-45% for Gutknecht in a poll I saw) . . .

We tend to be skeptical of polling data presented without supporting details, regardless of how encouraging it may be.

The Ford Report (dedicated to electing Harold Ford Jr in the US Senate from Tennessee) quotes Gil Gutknecht as a Republican distancing himself from Bush.  Will voters need this bumpersticker as a reminder of Gutknecht's relationship with the president?

NONPARTISAN PITCH: THE LEAST OF THESE
The Wege uses a slam against him as an opportunity to suggest giving money to Habitat to Humanity. We concur; volunteering to help build homes for working families is also a great way to contribute to the group.

In MN-01, consider contributing to or volunteering with Freeborn/Mower Habitat for Humanity, Martin/Faribault County Habitat for Humanity, Minnesota Valley Habitat for Humanity (New Ulm), South Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity (Mankato), Rochester Area Habitat for Humanity, Southwestern Minnesota Habitat for Humanity,  Steele County Habitat for Humanity, Habitat for Humanity of Watonwan County, and  Winona County Habitat for Humanity.

If that list looks like there are a lot of families who seek better housing in southern Minnesota, that impression is spot on. Through October 1,  "Portraits of Home: Families in Search of Shelter in Greater Minnesota" is showing at the Owatonna Arts Center.  For more information on affordable housing issues in greater Minnesota, check out the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund. 

MN-01: Rochester debate, Dem spending concord, DM & E news

The morning's early read of local newspapers contained little news of the MN-01 congressional race, though that may change by the afternoon, and most Minnesota bloggers are still recovering from Tuesday night's primary. 

ROCHESTER DEBATE
Readers in the Rochester area will have a chance to see Monday's Chamber of Commerce debate, which will be rebroadcast in its entirety several times in the next few days on public access, channel 10.

Schedule

Today: 4 p.m.

Friday: 7 p.m.

Saturday: 11 am.

Sunday: 8:30 p.m.

Monday: 1 p.m. and  3:30 p.m.

YouTube clips, arranged by question, here.

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC SPENDING
According to the Washington Post,  an internal squabble over spending has been resolved within the national Democratic party.  Here's the gist:

The Democratic National Committee, the party's overarching organization, agreed to set aside $12 million to mobilize voters on Election Day, with $2.4 million planned for 40 congressional districts that are considered among the most competitive in the country.

[snip]

The congressional committee, led by Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., has wanted Dean to put more money into the effort to gain control of Congress, believing this election presents the best opportunity for Democrats to win a majority in the House of Representatives.

"Democrats are unified and prepared to win up-and-down the ballot, all across America this November," Dean said in a statement. "Building on successful efforts over the past year, we're in the final stretch and the DNC is making unprecedented investments to ensure that Democrats retake control of Congress and are elected at every level of government."

DM & E NEWS
Tom of Sky Blue Waters tipped us off to these news briefs: Byron, MN mayor wants out of DM&E deal.

The mayor here is asking city councilors to back out of Byron's partnership agreement with Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, pointing to concerns about safety and train traffic.

Mayor Greg Brandt recently urged the council to rescind a 1999 agreement with DM&E to support its $6 billion expansion and upgrade project.

"This is what is best for Byron. We don't want the railroad sending all these coal trains through town," Brandt said. "Maybe I should have spoken up several years ago (or) several months ago. But if I don't say something now, it will be too late."   . . .

and this:

Anti-DM&E forces getting additional help

PIERRE, S.D. -- A former Bill Janklow staff member is coordinating an effort to get video comments from people who live and work along the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, which wants to upgrade track and build a new line to haul Wyoming coal across South Dakota and southern Minnesota.

Janklow, a former congressman and South Dakota governor, is working with consultants brought in by Rochester, Minn., and the Mayo Clinic, which oppose the Sioux Falls-based railroad's plans. The video will be part of testimony to the Federal Railroad Administration, said Marshall Damgaard, whose crew was in Pierre last week.

Netroots: Walz to go on Red to Blue list?

Matt Martin at MnPublius has a tip:

Congressman Rahm Emanuel has been meeting with Tim Walz and is about to put Walz on the DCCC's Red to Blue list. This could be big news for the Walz campaign, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

According to a press release issued by the D-Trip in February, the Red to Blue program offers:

support to strong Democratic candidates across the country. In order to highlight the top Democratic candidates and help them raise campaign funds as well as provide structural support for the campaigns, the DCCC’s “Red to Blue” program will encourage candidates to emphasize their own policy proposals while assisting them with important resources that will keep them competitive as November 2006 gets closer. This will be an exclusive program that will reward the candidates and campaigns that are most skilled, not only at raising money on their own, but at getting their message across to the voters they hope to represent.

That support is more more than just encouragement. The program has a strong fundraising component:

In 2004, the Red to Blue program raised nearly $7.5 million for twenty seven campaigns across the country with an average of more than $250,000 per campaign.

In the meantime, readers can ActBlue for Walz.

Breaking News: Oral arguments in DM & E case

Via his Government Center blog, Rochester Post-Bulletin reporter Jeffrey Pieters supplies tomorrow's news today:

Oral arguments scheduled in DM&E case

Sept. 14, 2006

By Jeffrey Pieters

jpieters@postbulletin.com

Federal judges will hear Rochester’s and Mayo Clinic’s second appeal against the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad upgrade project about two months from now. [read more]

MN-01 Post-Primary News and Netroots

CALEDONIA ARGUS: "POOR LEADERSHIP FROM OUR CONGRESSMAN"
Up in the Twin Cities, the Strib attributes buzz about the MN-01 congressional race to DFL circles; meanwhile, yet another smalltown newspaper editor expresses his disappointment in Gil Gutknecht.  This time, it's the Caledonia Argus. 

Editor David Heiller writes in his weekly column:

Sometimes I wonder about our elected officials. How can they be so dumb, or think we are so dumb?

That came to mind last week when I heard a newscast about the Minnesota First Congressional District race.

It gave a revealing picture of our present congressman, Gil Gutknecht. First he was quoted in June, talking about how the war in Iraq would improve in our favor after the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

After that event happened on June 7, he said the public should not “go wobbly” on the war. That’s an ugly phrase to me, like “cut and run.” It implies weakness and cowardice, which I guess is how you address someone who disagrees with you, at least if you are politician.  [there's more]

Heiller's column joins editorial pieces questioning Gutknecht in the Winona Daily News, the Dodge Center Star Record, the Spring Grove Herald and the Fillmore County Journal.

WORTHINGTON DAILY GLOBE: "Finding help for farmers and ranchers"
Taking some time away from the glories of this weekend's King Turkey Day celebration, the editors of the Worthington Daily Globe look at congressional support for a drought-relief bill.  Prominently missing from a Tuesday rally were any congressional Republicans. The editors make note of this fact and more [emphasis ours]:

Farmers and ranchers were well-represented at a rally outside the Capitol Tuesday, and with ample reason.

Congressional Republicans and Democrats from eight states gathered to push for the adoption of a $6.5 billion drought-relief bill, according to an Associated Press report. Eleven senators, four members of the House of Representatives and North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven were at the rally — among those there was Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the senior Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee (Peterson would chair that committee should Democrats wrest control of the House from Republicans in November).

Members of Congress from the Dakotas, Montana, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Arkansas and Minnesota spoke in favor of the legislation, the AP report stated. However, no House Republicans attended the rally, an omission noted by Peterson during his remarks.

Why don’t House Republicans support the bill? They, along with the White House, have reportedly opposed several versions of the relief legislation, citing the bill as too expensive and unfairly distributed among its beneficiaries. But these claims don’t seem to fly on at least two counts.

On one front, North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, a Democrat, made a sound point Tuesday when he said, “We are not asking for the moon. This is one and a half weeks of spending in Iraq.” On another, if there is concern about fair distribution of money, shouldn’t the effort be made to make it equitable, rather than simply thwarting efforts for relief?

Here’s the primary point: Getting farmers and ranchers the help they need during some particularly devastating conditions shouldn’t be squashed by any type of political gamesmanship.

FEC PRE-PRIMARY REPORT TIDBIT: BRYAN ANDERSON
In a Winona Daily New Daily guest column, Bryan Anderson, a  Gutknecht Congressional staffer, admitted editing the congressman's Wikipedia entry.

A Bryan Anderson turns up on the payroll of Gutknecht's congressional campaign, according to page 51 of the committee's pre-primary report. He was paid $607.15.  According to Open Secrets, Anderson has already been paid $9,039 for his work on Gutknecht's campaign this cycle.

Obviously, editing out embarassing facts about a Congressman during an election year is a congressional staff responsibility to be conducted using congressional internet access, rather than a campaign staff duty.  We are pleased to note Anderson's professionalism in this matter.

Perhaps there are two Bryan Andersons helping Representative Gutknecht out in his two offices.

NETROOTS
After spending last week dismantling Gutknecht's health care proposals, Minnesota Central writes his congressman a letter:

Thank you for your eline concerning health care.  In it you state : “My concern is that my friends on the left are offering a false choice. They are saying we can either continue the status quo which is costing too much and leaving too many uninsured, or move to a government-run, single payer system. There are other alternatives that should be explored.”

Now, your staff may have been busy checking out driving records in Dawes County Nebraska, so they may have missed some recent news.

- Trust for America's Health issued their annual report on Tuesday, August 29th that 31 states had a greater percentage of their residents classified as obese in this year's report than last year's. Obesity can lead to diabetes, heart disease and stroke, ultimately costing the country $117 billion a year in medical costs and lost worker productivity.

- Twenty million Americans have diabetes, and an estimated seven million of those are undiagnosed. Another 41 million have pre-diabetes, two million of which are teenagers. The vast majority of this latter group has no idea they are in the formative stages of the disease, which is why diabetes has been called the silent epidemic. Worldwide, the International Disease Federation estimates 195 million people have diabetes, a figure expected to reach 330 million by 2025 -- only 20 years away.

- Harvard University released a report on September 11th, that in Nicollet County, the average life expectancy in 1999, the most recent data available, was 81.1 years -- a year longer than the average Minnesotan and more than four years longer than the national average. Among the top 100 counties in the United States, 21 are in Minnesota.

The jest [sic] is that America is facing a crisis and cannot live with the status quo.

Former Republican Senator David Durenberger and the Minnesota Citizens Forum on Health Care Costs identified a number of steps to reduce the costs of care. A main point was access – not just for the uninsured, but to achieve universal participation.

[snip]

Clearly these are Republicans that understand the status quo is not serving us and that significant changes are needed. Your alternatives do not address the problems cited by your fellow Republicans. In fact, they do not offer “false choices” or the “status quo”, but identify real problems and solutions.

My concern is that your voting record indicates that your solution to the “status quo” is to shift federal obligations onto the state. For example, you supported the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 which actually will reduce Medicare spending by $6.4 billion and Medicaid spending by $4.7 billion from 2006 to 2010. [read more]

Over at the Post-Bulletin, Government Center wonders what the Devil is saying in the famous "Gopher Train" broadside cartoon.  He also adjusts the "Five Million Loan" of 1857 into 2006 dollars and compares it to today's DM & E loan request. If you can decipher Old Nick, go help out.

Democracy for Minnesota gives a nod to the YouTube videos of the Rochester debate, as does the Wege.  Link early and often.

We missed this over-the-top bit about Gutknecht over at the Insomnia Report last week. Warning: humor impaired probably don't want to go there.  My Left Wing dreams of a Walz ad.

Why just dream? Now that the race in the Fifth is settled for practical purposes, how about you city folks giving country boy Tim Walz some money over at ActBlue?

We have also been meaning to link to Barry Welsh's Fifty State Strategy Minnesota page for some time. Welsh is running in a red district in Indiana, but he gets it about thinknig nationally and acting locally in every congressional district.

MN-01: On turning tough, TOMPAC, the Tarrance Group and the barking fantods

Today's Star Tribune reports "Key fall campaigns poised to turn tough; Experts say Minnesota should brace for big-spending, bare-knuckled "hand-to-hand" candidate combat." We read:

Experts say some of Minnesota's most important races -- governor, U.S. Senate, key congressional districts -- are expected to be tight, drawing massive money infusions from national parties and outside interest groups and some of the hardest-edged ads and tactics Minnesotans have seen in years.

"This is going to be hand-to-hand combat from here on out," said Steven Smith, a Minnesota native and political science professor from Washington University in St. Louis.

"There are less than three dozen House races and six or seven Senate races in the country that are intensely competitive and Minnesota has several of those," Smith said.

Already the Republican National Committee (RNC) has acknowledged in a recent Washington Post report that it plans to go on the attack with brawling ads that zero in on personal issues and local controversies. In a memo cited in the Post story, the RNC urged House and Senate candidates to find "damaging material about challengers" and "define your opponent immediately and unrelentingly."

Democrats are expected to wage a fierce contest as well, with strategies to shove their opponents "into the right-wing corner," Smith said, while non-incumbent challengers throw in charges about a Washington "culture of corruption."

While Gutknecht certainlng enjoys some ties to the DC "culture of corruption,"  the race in the First has centered around policy differences on issues such as Iraq and health care, and local issues such as the DM & E loan for upgrades, as well as Gutknecht's renounced pledge to term limits and other career challenges.

It's not just experts raising these points about tactics but local bloggers as well. On Monday, Minnesota Central posted an informed comment about the negative campaign we're beginning to see emanating from the right (edited slightly to make links hot):

"Not long ago, Checks and Balances reported an unsourced rumor that the Gutknecht campaign was going to go negative."

= = = = = = =
I suspect that you’ve read the Washington Post story on Sunday about the GOP’s plan to spend mega-dollars going negative. . . .

I think they will use a three prong approach.
#1. Overt – i.e. sending the info to pseudo-bloggers like MDE and forcing the press to publish or miss the story.
#2. Covert through push polls. The GOP has already used push polls in Iowa and last week in Rhode Island. Here’s the Lincoln Chafee story –it’s a good one.
#3. Selective – or should I say Intelligent – voter/issue advertising.
Do you recall back in February when the GOP sent out a C/D to gather voter input on issues … in reality, it was just to determine how to market the Republican team to the voter. Here’s a link to the MPR story with sample questions.  . . .

All of these are interesting forecasts.  The Washington Post article contains this information:

The National Republican Congressional Committee, which this year dispatched a half-dozen operatives to comb through tax, court and other records looking for damaging information on Democratic candidates, plans to spend more than 90 percent of its $50 million-plus advertising budget on what officials described as negative ads.

We turned to Gutknecht's FEC reports to see in there was any substance--in the form of dollars received or spent--of any coming unslightliness.  On page 75 of his pre-primary report, we find that Gutknecht had spent $20,488.00 on August 2  with the Tarrance Group for polling. The Tarrance Group is a well-known Republican pollster.

Perhaps this is the source of the bad polling results that a Republican friend whispered into Toule's ear over at Checks and Balances.

More recently, Gutknecht received a flurry of large contributions within the period covered by the "48 hour contribution notice" rule, kicked in by yesterday's primary. On September 7, the Gutknecht campaign received $10,000 from TOMPAC.

TOMPAC is a leadership PAC run by Tom Reynolds. His biography on TOMPAC's website begins:

U.S. Representative Thomas M. Reynolds marks the start of the 109th Congress as a member of the Republican Majority's leadership team, after being unanimously re-elected to the post of Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

Ah yes. That Tom Reynolds.  In the Washington Post article referenced above, Reynolds discusses his research philosophy:

MN-01: Rochester debate YouTube Videos

Multiple video clips from yesterday's Rochester Chamber of Commerce Congressional forum are posted at GoTimGo at YouTube.

OLLIE OX UPDATE
Leigh Pomeroy has his take on the debate at Vox Verax.

MN-01 Early Morning News: Debate, DM & E and Dissent

PRIMARY DAY
Remember to vote today.

DEBATE NEWS
Opening statements from yesterday's Rochester debate are up at YouTube, though we're getting a black screen.

UPDATE: New clips up at YouTube GoTimGo!

News of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce debate is coming in. First up, KTTC TV reports in First Congressional District Debate:

ROCHESTER, MN -- Two months away from elections and two congressional opponents square-off in a lively debate.
 
Republican Incumbent Gil Gutknecht and Democratic Candidate Tim Walz discuss topics facing the nation and the voters in the first congressional district.
 
The Rochester Chamber of Commerce sponsored the event for people to learn more about where the candidates stand on the issues of importance to the business community.
 
The Chamber and audience asked a number of questions ranging from DM&E, immigration, and health care.
And on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, is our nation safer five years later?
 
DFL Candidate Tim Walz says, "We have not enacted port security like we should have done. We have not enacted border security like it should have been done. We did not enact any of the recommendations which would have been quick fixes. We find our country in a reflective mode. Every time something happens we have to wait until there is a plot to hear that there might be liquids on a plane."
 
Republican Incumbent Gil Gutknecht says, "When we first got involved in this after 9-11 we realized there were terror training bases in Afghanistan and in other places around the middle east, they no longer exist as far as we know and when we find them, we go after them. So we're on offense."
 
Republican Greg Mikkelson is running against Gutknecht in tomorrow's primary but was not involved in the forum.
 
The chamber says the debate was open to endorsed candidates.

SEND LAWYERS, HIRED GUNS AND MONEY
The Rochester Post-Bulletin published an AP story that the Mayo Clinic has hired a well-connected Washington firm to represent its interests in the DM & E controversy in Mayo turns to top guns to lobby against DM&E:

Associated Press 

Mayo Clinic has tapped a former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney and a former Democratic congressional leadership staffer to help it lobby against an expansion plan by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, federal reports show.

According to Mayo's most recent lobbying report, covering activity through June 30 of this year, the clinic has spent $60,000 in lobbying against DM&E.

Mayo has enlisted the Washington law firm of Manatt Phelps & Phillips, which lists among its lobbyists on DM&E Dean McGrath, who worked as Cheney's deputy chief of staff; and James Datri, the former executive director of the House Democratic Caucus.

NEW ULM JOURNAL: A MILITARY PARENT SPEAKS
Dana Melius of Winthrop (Sibley County) must likely lives outside the 1st, but Melius's thoughtful letter was published in the New Ulm Journal on Sunday in "Critics of U.S. ‘war’ on terrorism are also patriots":

MN-01 Netroots Update: Walz momentum rolls on

ROCHESTER FORUM
A Walz campaign staffer tells us that once again Tim Walz shone in a head-to-head encounter with Gil Gutknecht, and that You Tube videos of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce debate will be posted as they are ready. Watch them and decide for yourself.  They should be added at the Walz's You Tube home.

DAILYKOS ACTBLUE UPDATE
In his midday thread, Kos noted that Tim Walz had almost hit five digits in the ActBlue Netroots Candidate contributions. About 10 p.m. tonight, it up to $10,335.07       $10,340.63. Contribute if you can.

DOES IT STICK?
The DFLers blog posts about GOP tactics in an increasingly gloomy outlook:

According to the Washington Post, a National Republican Congressional Committee memo released last week "recommended that vulnerable incumbents spend $20,000 on a research `package' to find damaging material about challengers and urged, `define your opponent immediately and unrelentingly.'"

GOVERNMENT CENTER
The Rochester Post Bulletin's Government Center blog looks at the DM & E conflict on this fall's elections  in As the local races turn.  Not as entertaining as Lindsay Lohan but we enjoy reading  the PB's blogs anyway.

September 11 Forum in Rochester

Tim Walz and Gil Gutknecht will face off one-to-one today for the second time. In their last meeting--a debate over ag policy in Owatonna--Walz dominated the event.

The Steel County Farmers Union sponsored the last meeting; today's host is the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce. Although the focus of the questions is likely to be business-related, those who attend the luncheon forum should also expect to hear questions about business and the economy, the DM & E project, national security because of the date, and international trade.  The debate begins at 12:15 p.m. sharp at the Rochester Marriott.

What else can those at the debate expect? Not long ago, Checks and Balances reported an unsourced rumor that the Gutknecht campaign was going to go negative. Since then, we have seen the RNCC and political operative bloggers give themselves the barking fantods about an 11-year-old speeding ticket. 

Perhaps nothing unusual will happen today and people attending the forum will have the treat of seeing the contrast between Tim Walz and the incumbent firsthand. Walz should do well again--in addition to teaching and National Guard service, he is a small business owner.  Gutknecht is having a difficult time holding his own on the issues.

Thus, one needn't possess the Fat Lady of Limbourg's delicate sensibilities in order to predict more efforts to impugn Tim Walz's character by Republicans and their operatives.

That's what they're paid for.

MN-01 Netroots: Sunday afternoon

We just returned from a friend's hobby farm, laden with basil, tomatoes, eggplant, green and roma  beans, zucchini and arugula. Ah, the possibilities. Rather like the reading we found on the netroots when we got home.

Formerly number two guy in the  State Department’s counterterrorism unit and a blog team member at Vox Verax, Tom Maertens is featured in a Mankato Free Press article "Working under attack: Mankato native/former State Department counterterrorism expert recalls Sept. 11, 2001."

The Walz race is featured at DFA's Blog for America:

Congressional candidate Tim Walz (MN-01), a Minnesota schoolteacher and veteran of the U.S. Army National Guard said, "The wishful thinking of this administration and this Congress is not a foreign policy. Trying to sell us this war is nothing more than marketing of a failed policy." Tim Walz has a plan to stabilize Iraq and you can read more about it here.  Walz, who has been endorsed by multiple DFA Link groups, believes that Veterans' issues are national security issues and that we must do more for soldiers. Tim Walz will also participate a luncheon debate hosted by the Rochester Chamber of Commerce on 9/11. . . .

Over at DailyKos (and crossposted to the TPMCafe) there's a  'Super Tuesday' for Fighting Dem Vets - Recap and Overview."

McPherson Hall at Minnesota Central looks at late night legislation in "Born in the middle of the night … Loans for DM&E and Medicare premium increases."

American Hot Sausage endorses Tim Walz (we've crossed out a biographical error and added a correction):

AHS has no writers living in CD1, but with the emergence of such a fine candidate as Tim Walz, we can't help but comment.

CD1 has had only been five Democratic congressmen out of 18 in 150 years. Typically considered the more conservative area of Minnesota, which means this isn't the place for just any Democrat. AHS believes that Tim Walz is a finest American running for office and something close to a God send because he brings a rare harmony of unusual qualities.

As a veteran with over two decades of service (including time in Iraq in Europe supporting troops in Operation Enduring Freedom), Tim Walz brings a perspective to the DFL that lends credibility and focus as we strive to clarify our positions on war and peace. But Tim isn't a novelty candidate defined simply by the pragmatic attractiveness of a Democratic military veteran. As an educator, family man, social scientist, and a public servant with direct experience working with diversity (such as teaching in China), AHS is comfortable saying there is not candidate running for any office in America that is better suited for our vote than Tim Walz. . . .

Cube Zoo member GeistX is supporting Tim Walz:

He is a teacher. He is passionate about us as a people and our State. He is like what our politicians in MN used to be, honest, hard working, and blessed with independent thought.

Make It Stop! Make It Stop! puts in a good word for Walz:

So Minnesotians, is it finally time for Gil Gutknecht to say bye bye to his seat? Gil doesn't seem to be the sharpest knife in the drawer, good thing he's got such good friends in oil and other large industries. They've done a good job of looking out for each other so far. It's up to the people to put an end to Gil's days of feeding at the public trough and let the people of Minnesota's 1st have someone to represent them.

Gil's up against Tim Walz, who served in Europe with his battalion in support of American troops in Afghanistan (Operation enduring Freedom). Ouch. How do you go up against a Sergeant Major from the Army National Guard? Well, you dig for whatever you can find, even if it's a speeding ticket. Gil's guys have to work hard to try and distract voters from his policies and stands. So let's make them work a little harder by reminding everyone of Gil's congressional votes, shall we? (and those would be the ones he made while actually in DC and not off on one of his junkets. Gil's gathered up quite a bit of frequent flyer miles on those "fact finding" missions that always seem to go to places that others visit as tourists. Just a coincidence, no doubt! . . .

Speaking of that, Dave Mindeman at mnpACT!'s Progressive Political Blog looks at " . . . Brodkorb, Kline, ABC & Other Bottom Feeders."

Aggregator-style blog Newsie8200 Penndit features the text of Tim Walz's radio ad.

As always, contribute what you can to Walz's campaign via ActBlue.

MN-01 Lazy Saturday Afternoon Netroots: Winona, Winona, Winona

WALZ IN WINONA
Craig's Site posts a diary entry about a Tim Walz house party in Winona.  Like so many Walz events, this one was well-attended:

Congressional Candidate Tim Walz Visits Winona

Tim Walz, the DFL candidate for U.S. Congress from the First Congressional District of Minnesota (which includes Fillmore, Houston, and part of Winona County) was in Winona Wednesday evening as special guest at a gathering of over 100 people at the home of Dr. Bill and Joan McNeil.

Walz is a high school geography teacher from Mankato, and is a 24-year veteran of the Minnesota Army National Guard. Walz, who says he will be “an independent voice for Southern Minnesota,” has been campaigning vigorously, strongly criticizing incumbent Gil Gutknecht for the lack of leadership Gutknecht has shown on critical issues such as affordable health care, Iraq, education, the environment, and energy policy.

Walz, speaking with several fellow veterans behind him, said, “My opponent recently referred to me as ‘irrelevant.’ After thinking about it, I saw that that it actually is true. The race is not about me or my opponent. It is about the people of southern Minnesota, and about giving them proper representation in Washington, which they have been lacking for several years.”

GUTKNECHT STAFFER SPANKED FOR WIKI WHACKING
The Gutknecht campaign may have thought it had an answer for the Winona Daily News' editorial blasting attempts to erase his term-limits pledge, but readers posting at the paper's online forum are not buying it. Samples:

The truth shall set you free.

wrote on September 09, 2006 2:06 AM:"It's all there in the edit history of the Gil Gutknecht article (the history tab at the top). First, using the Gutknecht01 user name on July 24th, the article was edited primarily to remove the term limits reference (with the edit summary: Edited on the authority of Congressman Gil Gutknecht's Office). Then on August 14th using the IP 143.231.249.141 (housegate10.house.gov) they engaged in a short edit war replacing the entire Wikipedia article with the official Gil Gutknecht biography from http://www.house.gov/gutknecht/About/about.htm. The Gutknecht staffer did not take the time to understand how the Wikipedia works and he tried to use the Wikipedia for propoganda purposes. If they had learned about the Wikipedia and had just edited to help improve the quality of the article to make it more accurate and better referenced, there would have been no problems at all. gk" 

Oh Gil
wrote on September 08, 2006 10:57 AM:"Sending up a staffer to take the blame...you are better than that. "  

Hey
wrote on September 08, 2006 9:20 AM:"First of all - who is this guy and where is he from. Second of all - why would term limits have a negative consequence for the first district. Third of all - if renewable energy and pharmaceuticals are the only things Gil had any part in during his 12 years maybe its a good time for the voters to give him a 12 year limit."  

Taking one for the team..
wrote on September 08, 2006 8:14 AM:"Hmmmm...a strategy borrowed from the White House. That makes sense, Congressman Gutknecht usually follows in lockstep with them. Let someone on the staff take one for the team while the leader shrugs it off. Maybe Mr. Anderson can get a Medal of Freedom like George Tenant."

DISMANTLING A SMEAR
We could live without the purple prose shot through the entry, though we appreciate the sentiment of the MN Blue post on TimWalz (cross posted to a DailyKos diary) "Tim Walz (MN-01) under attack, Republicans ramps up the Lie Machine."  The post reviews the history of the case, closing with:

Walz is a natural leader and would be a great addition to Congress. Gutknecht's and the RNCC's tactics are typical. Nothing has been going right for Gutknecht and he and the Republicans are going to try and and milk this pseudo-issue for every thing they can. Don't let them get away with it.

The sentiments about the source of the attacks are echoed in Tim O-Brien's Blog House, albeit about another race:

Back in July, I praised the work of Michael Brodkorb. His blog was instrumental in forcing the mainstream media to cover some valid issues regarding Fifth District U.S. House candidate Keith Ellison. Despite my opinion that he was a GOP party organ, in this case he had provided a public service: Voters had the right to know about the DFL-endorsed candidate's transgressions.

I take it all back. Brodkorb has gone all Drudge Report on me.

To decry the level of political discourse in general -- and both sides are guilty-- is to waste valuable oxygen. But what Brodkorb and his ilk are doing goes far beyond slinging mud. It's character assassination.

We anticipate that there will be more in this vein in the days to come.

Mark Gisleson predicts this at Norwegianity, while taking the RNCC to task for this statement: Walz "owes Minnesota voters a full confession for his impropriety 11 years ago.”  The Wege's take:

Demanding a "full confession" is beyond noxious and truly world class Babbitry but the real bottom line continues to be this: Tim Walz got pulled over for speeding on an interstate in a part of Nebraska where you could die of hunger waiting for the next motorist to come along. In western Nebraska snails cross highways and live to tell about it.

But that's how fear-base campaigning works. Ratchet up the hysteria without the context.
[read the rest; politically incorrect language warning].

Bob Collins at Polinaut offers a slightly different version--more cordial toward Brodkorb and more urging of critical judgement on the part of readers and voters. But there's also this :

The strategy was clear and one that I would think we would have gotten use to by now. Throw up a bunch of stuff and hope some of it sticks and if in the process the credibility of the person writing what he does know is undermined, well, so much the better.

It's an effective strategy and it can work. Once. Twice. Maybe three times. But the problem with it is a constant barrage of "throwing stuff against the wall and hoping some of it is right" inevitably undermines the credibility of the person throwing it and pretty soon nothing sticks, even that which probably should. It is, essentially, the natural order of things and it's the political eco-system that eventually cleanses itself through natural means.

It's a fine line that some people walk and it usually becomes a problem late in the campaign, not so much for the Keith Ellisons of the world (hey, if you think this is bad, pal, wait to you go to Washington!) but the bloggers who end up destroying themselves in the process of trying to destroy others.

MN-01 & the DM & E: How we got to be called The Gopher State

The Minnesota Monitor takes a look at a local issue in the MN-01 race:  the DM & E.  Let's look at the post, then consider a historical incident not taken up by any modern critic of the DM & E.

Mn Monitor contributor Leigh Pomeroy states that this issue could be the deciding factor in the election; we respectfully disagree, in that much of the expressed frustration coming from opinion leaders and average folks stems from frustration with national policy (Iraq, the deficit) and Gutknecht's lackluster performance over the twelve years to which he promised to limit his Congressional career.  Gutknecht's passivity on DM & E is but another example of the later.

Nonetheless, the analysis is worth the read.  A part:

Nearly all cities along the route have signed community partnership agreements with the railroad, some begrudgingly, but the City of Rochester, bolstered by Olmsted County, the Mayo Clinic and the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, don't want the coal trains coming through town.

The chief objection is that the rail line passes within blocks of the Mayo Clinic campus. The Mayo contends that a hazardous waste spill from a derailment or other accident would cripple the downtown area and the Clinic. During any weekday approximately 30-40,000 people are in the city center adjacent to the tracks, making an evacuation particularly difficult. Further, at any given time as many as 600 Mayo patients are in intensive care or surgery, or are otherwise incapacitated, and cannot be moved. Mayo spokespeople call this "Rochester's potential Katrina."

During this struggle Rep. Gutknecht has been straddling the fence between catering to the large agricultural interests supporting the railroad and trying to appease the Mayo and the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, both long-time supporters. Now with Walz running a strong grassroots campaign and nearly certain to win key cities in the district like Mankato, Austin, Albert Lea and Winona, Gutknecht has to maintain his traditional hometown base in order to hold onto his seat.

Just recently, Gutknecht has aligned himself with Sen. Coleman to (finally) try to pressure the Department of Transportation to come up with a mitigation plan for Rochester, but DM&E opponents say this is doing too little too late.

Meanwhile, DM&E CEO Kevin Schieffer claims that 55 of 56 communities along the rail line have signed community partnership agreements with the railroad in support of the expansion, the one remaining holdout being Rochester. That's not technically true, however, as Brookings' agreement has been suspended until a referendum is voted on this fall, and Mankato's, while signed by the city has not been countersigned by the railroad, apparently due to a disagreement over a city veto clause in the contract. (Blue Earth County, in which Mankato is located, has yet to draft an agreement with the railroad.)

Another wrinkle to the issue is that the city of Winona, from which the DM&E plans to offload its trains onto barges to cross the Mississippi River, also does not have an agreement with the railroad. That's because the DM&E's tracks stop five miles north in Minnesota City, while the Canadian Pacific (CP) owns the line from Minnesota City through Winona. Further, according to a Track the Truth spokesman, the CP doesn't have the port facilities to offload the amount of coal that the DM&E is planning to ship.

All this has resulted in a strange brew of century-old railroad laws, community rights, competing economic interests and old-fashioned porkbarrel politics. The saga has gone on for eight years already and won't end soon. But there's no doubt in many minds that it's impacting the 2006 congressional election in Minnesota's southern-most district, and that the result of that election — and the new makeup of Congress in January — will determine the proposed project's final outcome.

We call our readers' attention to a matter Pomeroy overlooked: the role of those old-fashioned porkbarrel politics and railroads in the story of how Minnesota earned its unofficial nickname: The Gopher State.  At the state legislature's web site, we find a list of "Minnesota State Symbols--Unofficial, Proposed, or Facetious."  We find this passage under "Gopher State":

In February 1858, the new Minnesota Legislature introduced the “Five Million Loan” bill. The purpose of the bill was to provide money to build railroads in the state. A highly controversial proposal, the bill ultimately passed. During the public debate, a cartoon was circulated depicting the railroad tycoons as nine gophers with human heads pulling a Gopher Train. Minnesota’s nickname “ the gopher state” came from this 1857 cartoon. A full description of the Five Million Loan may be found in William Watts Folwell, A History of Minnesota, Volume II (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1961), pages 37-58. . . .

What were the consequences of the "Five Million Loan"? The Minnesota Historical Society notes the history in the biography of a contemporary governor:

The Five Million Loan bill loaned to four railroad companies the credit of the state, not to exceed five million dollars. Bonds were to be issued as railroad construction was completed. The railroad companies would pay off the bonds by selling land granted to them by the federal government. The bill, signed by Governor Medary, later proved disastrous. By July, 1859, the value of the bonds fell so low that they were no longer useable as collateral to continue building the railroads.

The state's credit rating was impaired for 20 years according to some contemporary accounts.  Historical analogies are cautionary tales, rather than predictive evidence.  Nonetheless, the anxiety of fiscal conservatives at Minnesota Central and Doppler Effect are grounded on legitimate concerns.

Last week, the DM & E announced one contract to ship coal. The opposition responded in today's Rochester Post Bulletin:

Some of the KFx coal will go through Rochester, a hotbed of opposition to the DM&E's plans.

Mayo Clinic spokesman Lee Aase said DM&E's deal with KFx does not raise fears that Rochester will have a coal-hauling railroad incrementally shoved down its throat.

"From our perspective, the contract really doesn't change anything. It represents a small fraction of what DM&E would need to repay a $2.3 billion loan from American taxpayers.

"It's a very small fraction of what they need in terms of coal contracts. It doesn't really do anything to illustrate the viability of their project," Aase said.

Editorial columnist Holman W. Jenkins Jr dismisses these concerns in a cutting op-ed piece published in Wednesday's WSJ editorial page (a pdf is available at the ever-entertaining Government Center blog).

OLLIE OX UPDATE: The Mankato Free Press considering whether opposition to the project is expanding to other cities.

MN-01 Friday Night: Hoekstra on train derailments and much, much more!

HOEKSTRA: A TRAIN WRECK IN ROCHESTER?
Polinaut reports that Peter Hoekstra is coming to the Twin Cities for a fundraiser for Gil Gutknecht this  weekend, not just dodging a visit to Michigan by President Bush.

Hoekstra was in Rochester today talking to first responders about homeland security which:

isn't just responding to terrorist attacks, but to other serious situations including train derailments and chemical spills.
 
So, he's talking with first responders in Rochester about hazards that could happen in your own backyard.
 
And, he's getting feedback on what the area thinks about federal funding and working with the national level on integration.
 
"Integrate working as a team that they are prepared to work as a team if there ever any incident here in Minnesota," Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra says, "And, then they need to work with us to be open of what's working and what's not."
 
Of course the group did talk about terrorist attacks, and the chairman says the nation is much better prepared to stop an attack from ever happening than it was five years ago.

Meanwhile, Hoekstra told a slightly different story to the Grand Haven Tribune, a newspaper in his home district:

West Michigan's congressman, a key U.S. intelligence insider, says America should be prepared for the inevitable terrorist attack that could rival the horror of Sept. 11, 2001.

With that event looming on the horizon in Grand Haven, Michigan, train derailments and chemical spills in Rochester are just another national security risk.

No word on whether the discussion turned to "found" WMDs in Iraq or lost promises about term limits.

IS THAT A TIGHT RACE IN GIL'S POCKET, OR IS THE MAYO CLINIC JUST GLAD TO SEE YOU?
In breaking news today, Senator Norm Coleman announced that he:

has asked the U.S. Department of Transportation for a plan to address concerns of those who fear an expansion by the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad would harm the Rochester community and the Mayo Clinic.

Coleman, R-Minn., told reporters Thursday in Washington that he is waiting to hear from the department about his request.

"I have specifically asked the Department of Transportation to come up with a mitigation plan," Coleman said. "We need a mitigation plan, so I've asked them to study it and present something to us. They understand this is what's needed."

He said he believes the department will put "something on the table."

Steve Kulm, spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration, said the department will review the letter before commenting.

Opponents of DM&E's expansion plan say the project could endanger patients and staff at the Mayo Clinic and harm its reputation. They also say the city would be adversely affected. Kevin Schieffer, chief executive of the railroad, has said upgrading the tracks will increase safety, and that critics are unwilling to come to an agreement.

The project has the potential to send up to 34 trains through downtown Rochester daily.

Coleman and Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn., put the study request in writing Thursday in a letter to Acting Transportation Secretary Maria Cino.

Good to see Representative Gutknecht in a leadership role--after so many passive months.

KEYC CHURNS GOP CHARGE
Channel 12 in Mankato reports that "GOP Group Levels Charge at Walz Campaign."   MNPublius offers some perspective, while Evil Bobby schools himself for his future swiftboating.

NETROOTS
Minnesota Central continues his probing of Gil Gutknecht's health care proposals. Today's subject: Health savings accounts.

Health Savings Accounts (HSA) have been portrayed as the panacea for all that ails the health system.
HSA is a great program … if you’re healthy and wealthy. On the other hand, even the Government’s website states : If you have significant medical expenses that do not approach catastrophic limits, you are probably better off in a traditional plan.

So who does take advantage of a Health Savings Account?

Let’s say you have a net worth of $20.9 million dollars, would you want a Health Savings Account ? Well, one of the advantages is that it offers tax-preferred aspects. According to The Washington Post, President Bush disclosed in his annual financial report a health savings account worth as much as $15,000 … and I thought he got health coverage as part of his job !

HSA by design are a high deductible insurance program which allows the individual to also invest up to the deductible amount into an investment vehicle. Let’s say, you’re a family and select a policy with a deductible of $5,450, then you could also put away $5,450 (assuming that you have the available cash) into an investment fund that would grow tax-free. The monies could be invested much like an IRA - including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and certificates of deposit. The value of the HSA at death is income to the estate or other entity.

Essentially, this is a catastrophic health insurance plan – since you pay all expenses until the deductible is satisfied. Catastrophe plans may make sense for home owners insurance since we do not normally experience disasters every year (unless you live in the hurricane belt) … maybe once in our lifetime; but most of us have health expenses every year.

The unanswered question cited by Gutknecht and the Kaiser Family Foundation is, does this make insurance affordable ? Yes, the insurance premium is less than a traditional policy with a lower deductible, but you are responsible for the medical expenses. These types of policies were available before HSA … the big new feature is that you can establish your own savings account for future medical expenses. But if you didn’t have the monies before, how does this help?

HSA do not address the underlying problems of rising healthcare costs in the U.S.

Read the rest here. See earlier installments here and here.  Bottomline, according to Minnesota Central:

In summary, . . . establishing Health Savings Accounts as the solution is non-responsive to the problem ... just another tax break for those that may not need it.

Thinking Outside the Closet reports that the National Journal thinks the MN-01 race has cooled from #39 to #41.

The Blog House takes back its praise of Republican operative blogging. Different race, same blogosmear  M.O.  The Strib on speeding story. Minnesota Monitor has an overview.

Millions of Friday Cats Blogging

A Bluestem Prairie rarely strays from political pastures. Today, however, we're joining in a grand tradition among progressive bloggers and choosing to cat blog.

Make that Millions of Cats blogging.

Artist and children's author Wanda Gag was a native of Minnesota's First Congressional District. The Minnesota Historical Society's Minnesota Author Biographies Project includes this entry for Gag:

Author, illustrator, and artist. Wanda Gag was the oldest of seven children; her father and her maternal grandparents had immigrated [sic] from Bohemia. When she was fifteen, her father, Anton (a local artist and photographer), died, leaving the family penniless.

Wanda took writing and illustrating jobs to support her family. She sold many illustrations to the Minneapolis Journal's Journal Junior a Sunday supplement section of the newspaper for juveniles.

She won awards and an art scholarship. She attended the St. Paul School of Art (1913-14) and Minneapolis School of Art (1914-17) and received a scholarship to the Art Students League in New York City (1917-18). She contributed illustrations to the socialist magazines The Liberator and New Masses.

A successful show at the Weyhe Gallery in New York in 1926 and publication in 1928 of her well-known and prototypical children's book Millions of Cats enabled her to give up work as a commercial artist and move to rural New Jersey, where she continued to produce drawings, lithographs, and children's books until her death in 1946. Her artwork is in a number of major museum collections.

That's the official short version. For the long version, nothing is better on her life as a budding artist than the MHS published diary, "Growing Pains."  It's a marvelous insight into the life of a gifted and tenacious young artist, struggling to keep her siblings and self in school in a small town where not everyone saw the value in educating orphans.

And yet, and yet. The Gag children had their champions, and part of the delight in reading the diaries  is Gag's own unpretentious delineation of those defenders. In one entry, she writes of her excitement at traveling to the Cities to see a friend's uncle.

It isn't until the wide-eyed Wanda arrives in St. Paul that readers learn her friend's uncle is Minnesota's governor.

There's more at Women Children's Book Illustrators, where we learn of Gag's proto-feminism:

"She also started to enjoy the company of young men but would become increasingly annoyed if they did not consider her their equal. In a letter to a young man, she reveals her feminist leanings:

'I have more courage and self-assurance than many a man, and yet I am treated as a mere wisp of femininity . . . I shall not rest until men are willing, and glad, to regard me as important as they (and with my hair hanging down my back in curls if I choose!)'"

"Millions of Cats" has been in print since 1928.  Read More: Women Children's Book Illustrators

For Tild~, rew and MnObserver (who blogs every place she wants).